Comment by 🚀 clseibold

@admin @skyjake Respectfully, it's funny to me that you protect some people so much from others' vitriol, but you do not even remotely care about *their* vitriol. Only because it is masked with fake polite language. While I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, as you are generally being more lenient than some who might have been more forceful, I am compelled to speak what has instantly aroused in my mind.

See, I value truth, so I don't weigh all things as equal, as if spreading dangerous ideologies or misrepresenting people is the same as telling someone when they are being stupid.

They aren't the same, and your kind is what gives people the illusion that Tylenol causing Autism, that LGBTQ+ people destroying society, and that immigrants should be being deported are all just as valid worldviews as suggesting all of the above are really the evils of our current day. Neutrality without weight is dangerous for a reason. And in case people find this mind-blowing, it is not: in the days of segregation there were people who said the same thing, and there were people like you who said what you now say to me:

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, WHO IS MORE DEVOTED TO "ORDER" THAN TO JUSTICE; WHO PREFERS A NEGATIVE PEACE WHICH IS THE ABSENSE OF TENSION TO A POSITIVE PEACE WHICH IS THE PRESENCE OF JUSTICE; WHO CONSTANTLY SAYS: "I AGREE WITH YOU IN THE GOAL YOU SEEK, BUT I CANNOT AGREE WITH YOUR METHODS OF DIRECT ACTION"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

- Martin Luther King Jr., Letter From Birmingham Jail

Europeans would do well to remember the words of some of our greatest Prophets, rather than ignore them just because they are American, especially in a time when Europe is becoming more authoritarian by the minue because it has not learned from its past.

It is very clear to me that you impose greater restrictions on those with the most need and reason to convey their hurt through strong words. You care so much about order and neutrality that you do not give credence to context. It is only through explicitness that you punish, but implicit vitriol and intimidation tactics are not met with the same force.

I wish I could say this was new, but it is not. Many LGBTQ+ peoples deal with adults that use your approach of negative peace consistently in high school. Intimidation and implicit vitriol is okay, but reacting to it explicitly is not. And yet people wonder why us gay people feel so silenced, have higher suicide rates, learn a sense of self-hatred, and often do not form relationships until very late in life.

I am a very loyal person, to a fault. When someone comes after people I respect unduly, I put my full force into defending them, *especially* when conservative vitriol poses as "technical argumentation".

Why am I able to distinguish conservative vitriol when it poses as technical arguments? Because I'm not priviledged enough to be a straight white man, unlike you, so I'm far too aware of idiots like Maggie Gallagher and Jordan Peterson and RFK Jr. who have wrecked havoc on people's ability to gain trustworthy factual information, and have literally gave way to what is modern day eugenics and white supremacy.

Their arguments are the same as the arguments used by Gemini-protocol Conservatives; gatekeeping to protect Gemini from the masses, raising the barrier to entry, so that certain types of people, particularly the non-technical, do not come to Gemini. They are idiots because it is true, and it is not vitriolic to say that.

All of this is to say that your approach, in every context it has been embodied in throughout history, *does not work*. No, neutrality, order without justice, does not work without weighing things in proportion, and you don't get to hide behind neutrality to justify *unproportional* responses to different peoples. Tone should not weigh more heavily than substance.

Might I remind you that I have not forgotten about the misstep of your badges of shame.

I am inclined to suggest that there is a better way, but I cannot give it until people learn to LISTEN instead of always snaping back at those who are actually being harmed, not with words, but with intimidation, dog whistles, and misrepresentation. Until then, I will continue to defend those who I feel are being mistreated.

I do hope this was ELOQUENT enough for you. Wouldn't want to overstep saying something too negative. Who knew a few strong words were more important than my actual arguments?

Dec 01 · 2 weeks ago

5 Later Comments ↓

Let me modify my approach by summarizing my same arguments in more "peaceful" terms:

• 1. Gemini is technically capable of streaming. Not only has this already been demonstrated, as it has always been a thing since the start of Gemini, it is also demonstrable through other file-transfer protocols, including HLS over HTTP, which splits videos into segments within a playlist to allow seeking.
• 2. Gemini is perfectly capable of handling big files. TCP ensures packets are always received. TLS ensures packets are not messed with. Connections are generally stable for a lot of those who use the internet, but in cases where they are not, streaming can handle this with segmentation, just like HLS does.

• 3. The attempt to call video streaming capitalist is a conflation between three distinct phenomena in the world: the economic system of capitalism, the human behavior of consumption, and the creative outputs we call artwork. Consumption exists under multiple economic systems, demonstrating its independence from the economic system. In fact, economic systems are defined by their method in handling/organizing consumption, rather than as a determiner of what humans will consume. Creative outputs imply possible consumption of the output, but it is possible for an artwork to remain unconsumed, thus artwork is also distinct from the act of consumption.
• 4. Consumption will always exist outside of capitalism, not only because humans will require consumption for survival, but also because creative outputs will always exist as long as humans drive for creative expression.
• 5. Creative outputs include audio, video, writing, and many other mediums.
• 6. These mediums only cost because of the economic system we are currently in taht places costs on the inputs of creative outputs.
• 7. Under different economic systems, the inputs could have different costs, depending on that system.
• 8. Calling any medium "capitalistic" assigns an inherent economic identity to the artwork, rather than how the artwork is used and produced. This is reductive and philosophically unsound.

The tools used to create an artwork might arise within an economic system, but they are not bound to it, the economic system does not own it, and once the tools already exist, they can be adapted to different systems and within different environments. The medium itself is separate from the tools and the conditions the tools arose.

Similarly, the cost of the output depends on the artist's intention, and the economic system they are under. It is not inherent in any artwork that it must cost. That is a choice put upon the art itself.

• 9. One can create a culture free of commercial imperatives and advertising within any artistic medium, including videos, audio, and streaming, just as has been done with writing. Again, the medium does not have an inherent economic system. The environment does.
• 10. Being an operator of a capsule requires identifying one's technical capabilities, particularly in bandwidth, and adhering to those. Capsules which cannot technically host videos have the *choice* of adhering to that limitation or not.
• 11. People choosing to host videos for which their capsule is capable of hosting does not place undue burden on other capsule operators.
• 12. So not only is Gemini capable of streaming, the burdens of streaming rely solely on those that choose to host streams, and no burden is placed whatsoever on capsules that choose not to host streams. In addition, the choice to host streams only influences others to do so if they so choose. Thus, personal autonomy is to blame for the spread of hosting. Finally, hosting streams does not make Gemini more capitalistic, and neither does it harm Gemini, as only those who wish to engage with streaming will do so.

@clseibold Seeing yourself as a righteous defender of truth and justice is commendable, but this is a humble bulletin board for mostly casual conversations. I remind you, again, that not following my Code of Conduct does have consequences.

@skyjake And I should remind YOU that your disproportionate "consequences" put undue burden on those who are already vulnerable, and the pattern seems to be that you place more expectation on specific groups over others. Which means you have chosen to do so, and thus have given up all benefit of doubt.

People have a right to condemn your actions when you embrace them so fully, without humbleness to criticism, and without regard to the experiences and issues of the most vulnerable in your community. It's almost like you've just ignored everything I've said above. I hope you can see why it's so hard for me to take what you've said seriously, because it's not serious.

You've consistently given particular individuals free passes for rule violations merely because they bully through passive-aggresiveness, trolling, intimidation, and what looks like "technical" argumentation.

Framing this space as "humble" and "casual" does not negate the seriousness of the harms caused. Really, your interactions here are a microcosm of how you operate in everyday life, what you tolerate, and what you speak out against. I could care less about the BBS, and yet I remain forceful because what I'm saying applies far beyond this BBS.

It only puts what I've said into greater perspective that you've chosen to take a stronger action against me only *after* I've respectfully critiqued you, rather than before.

You don't fool me, and you don't scare me. Moderation comes with increased scrutiny, and that's the way it should be, because as the saying goes: power corrupts. It is through our bravery in speech that we gain any check on power.

Unfortunately, you seem to have taken the writing that I've put my experiences and soul into, to discuss why your method is so damaging to people, and completely ignored and reduced it to nothing, as if there was nothing to engage, as if people's motivations do not matter. Frankly, it shows you lack heart.

My convictions come from lived experience, not ideology. I grew up in very conservative Iowa. My upbringing in a conservative environment is *why* I cannot and will never take a neutral position, and why I emphasize what I emphasize. I'd be dead if I remained neutral or took on the ideas of my surroundings without question. When you grow up poorer, you tend to learn that some ideologies are solely meant to gatekeep rather than protect.

I do appreciate the sarcasm though. We all need a good laugh.

@clseibold: This will probably fall onto deaf ears, and the lack of profanity add to the hatred you've shown, but consider for a minute:

• I am really far from conservative. I actually voted for Obama, before becoming very disappointed with the Democrat Party, who are no longer even Liberal! I've never supported anyone on the right.
• I have a Trans child _and_ a gay child whom I love and fully support.
• There was absolutely nothing about my engineering efficiency concerns that 'spreads conservative agenda'.

You really should look in the mirror occasionally.

And it's this that lead me to add

I'm no longer involved with the Gemini development, so all the tests and tools that were here are have been removed. Why doesn't matter. I've been told to shut up, sit down, and let the adults in the room talk. You have been warned.

To the bottom of my Gemini site main page. A pox on all your houses.

Original Post

Gemini Streaming — I'm testing streaming media in Alhena. Is hashnix the only Gemini radio service? Any others? How about Spartan, Nex or Gopher? Streaming is an option so the old behavior is still available (media plays from a temp file). When streaming, you can listen to Hashnix or HTTP streams but you lose seek. There are also rare files which don't stream - I think it has to do with the location of the metadata within the file. That's why it's an option. When playing large videos, playback...